Celebrate!

The Declaration of You, published by North Light Craft Books and available now, gives readers all the permission they've craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique, and uncover what they are meant to do! This post is part of The Declaration of You's BlogLovin' Tour, which I'm thrilled to participate in alongside over 200 other creative bloggers. Learn more -- and join us! -- by clicking here.

Several years ago, my girlfriend chose the word Celebration as her Word of the Year. It was very important for her to celebrate everything; so we did, no matter what. Major holidays, birthdays, full moons, new moons, pagan holidays, obscure secular holidays... it seemed every week held some little reason to decorate, dress up, and sit down to a fun family dinner of themed food.

It wasn't always easy. Sometimes we really struggled to find the celebratory spirit. Money was tight, there were reluctant participants, things would go wrong... but it didn't matter. We still found the time to come together as a family and celebrate whatever, and we've got a ton of wonderful memories and a handful of traditions that we created that year.

Lately though, it seems everything is changing. The kids are all teens or older now and starting to move out. Job situations have changed. Money is still tight, things still go wrong, and we can't find the time to celebrate as frequently as we once did, but even if weeks and even months go by without being able to gather, celebration is still important to us all.

This past Sunday was one of those blessed days of Celebration. We gathered at a nearby state park beach on Lake Ontario to celebrate all our summer birthdays -- and we have a BUNCH! There was no cake, no gifts exchanged, just a simple meal of grilled hot dogs & chicken, potato salad, and soda. We talked and ate and talked a swam and talked and talked some more. The ceaseless wind and bright sun didn't stop us from having fun frolicking in the waves and catching up on everything that everyone was doing.

It made me realize that Celebration is more important now than it ever was before. When we're being pulled in so many directions, and we struggle in our daily lives to find the joy, grasping at little things in which to find gratitude, feeling like things are moving too fast to ever catch up, it is a welcome relief to stop for a few hours, gather together from our far-flung environs (whether virtual or actual), and connect with each other. To just celebrate being a part of the family.


I'd love to know your thoughts on Celebration! Please feel free to leave them in a comment! You can also join The Declaration of You’s Facebook party today (Friday 7/26) at 9:30-10a PST/11:30a-12p CST/12:30-1p EST. They’ll be chatting in real time about celebration over at facebook.com/TheDeclarationOfYou. I'm sorry I won't be able to join in, but I'll be out of town celebrating (~_^) one of my daughters' birthdays!